Ms Yuriko Kurihara (completed EU Studies Undergraduate Diploma Programme in Fall 2022)
■Affiliation at the time of completion of the programme: School of Letters, Kyushu University *completed EU-DP before graduation
I enrolled in EU-DPs in the fall semester of my second year of university. I heard about the programme from my friend and became interested in how I could make some use of it by completing the programme. Since my major was related to Japanese history, I started with very little knowledge about it, and with a busy lab schedule, I had a hard time arranging how to schedule my classes. At first, I read the syllabus and chose classes that were open to students from other schools. Some classes were solidly about the EU, while others were about countries within the EU from a cultural and historical aspect, so it was easy to find the right class for me.
As for classes in other departments, I took classes in the School of Economics and Law. Although not directly applicable to my major, I was able to learn new ways of thinking by learning about the unique situation of the EU and the historical background of social issues. It was a great opportunity for me because I wouldn’t have learned about such things if I hadn’t taken this programme.
After completing the programme, I participated in EU-related symposiums and took a seminar on France, which gave me the opportunity to follow my own interests. I would like to continue to make use of what I have learned in this programme and study actively in the future.
I would like to recommend this programme to everyone, as I started with just a few interests and learned a lot.